Carrier tray

ABSTRACT

A carrier tray includes a top plate and a first sidewall. The top plate includes a first side edge and a containing room. The first sidewall is connected to the top plate and is extended from the first side edge. The containing room and the first sidewall are disposed on the same side of the top plate. The first sidewall and the top plate form a first included angle of between 73 and 78 degrees therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional patent application U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/594,427 filed on Aug. 24, 2012, for “CARRIER TRAY AND METHODFOR MANUFACTURING THEREOF.” This application is also claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 101119837 filed inTaiwan, R.O.C. on Jun. 1, 2012. Each of applications is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a container for storing andtransporting an object, and more particularly, to a carrier tray forstoring and transporting an electronic component.

2. Related Art

Generally speaking, a carrier tray is utilized for the storage andtransportation of a finished product or a semi-finished product of aliquid crystal display (LCD) panel in conventional technology. Moreover,in order to save the needed space for storing and transporting thefinished product or the semi-finished product, these carrier trays allhave a stacked structure for being overlapped with each other. Indetail, when these carrier trays are overlapped with each other, asidewall of an upper carrier tray is mounted on a top plate of a lowercarrier tray to form a containing room together. The containing room isused for containing the finished product or the semi-finished product ofthe LCD panel and protecting the finished product or the semi-finishedproduct from damage during storage or transportation.

In general, a thermoplastic plastic film is provided to be deformed intoa carrier tray by hot pressing. However, during manufacturing of thecarrier tray, because of the problem of a mold removal, the includedangle between the sidewall and the top plate would be restricted, whichleads to a poor whole structural strength of the carrier traysoverlapped with each other. If the whole structural strength of theconventional carrier trays overlapped with each other is poor, theproblem that the upper carrier bumps into the panel on the lower carriertray may be occurred during the storage or transportation of the panel.

Based on the above-mentioned problem, how to improve a method formanufacturing the carrier tray to advance the whole structural strengthof the carrier trays overlapped with each other is important.

SUMMARY

An embodiment discloses a carrier tray comprising a top plate and afirst sidewall.

The top plate comprises a first side edge and a containing room. Thefirst sidewall is connected to the top plate and is extended from thefirst side edge. The containing room and the first sidewall are disposedon the same side of the top plate. The first sidewall and the top plateform a first included angle of between 73 and 78 degrees therebetween.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thusare not limitative of the present disclosure, and wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a portion of process cross-sectional views ofmanufacturing a carrier tray;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a carrier trayaccording to an embodiment;

FIGS. 4 to 10 are cross-sectional schematic views of manufacturing acarrier tray corresponding to each step in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 11A, 12 and 13 are cross-sectional schematic views of a step ofremoving a first mold in a method for manufacturing a carrier trayaccording to another embodiment;

FIG. 11B is a perspective schematic view of a portion of a first mold inFIG. 11A;

FIG. 14 is a perspective schematic view of a carrier tray manufacturedby a method in FIG. 3;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional schematic view along a cross-sectional line15-15 in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective schematic view of a carrier tray according toanother embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional schematic view of a carrier tray along across-sectional line 17-17 in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional schematic view of stacked carrier trays ofFIG. 15; and

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional schematic view of stacked carrier trays ofFIG. 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed features and advantages of the disclosure are describedbelow in great detail through the following embodiments, the content ofthe detailed description is sufficient for those skilled in the art tounderstand the technical content of the present disclosure and toimplement the disclosure there accordingly. Based upon the content ofthe specification, the claims, and the drawings, those skilled in theart can easily understand the relevant objectives and advantages of thedisclosure.

Based upon the importance of advancing whole structural strength ofcarrier trays overlapped with each other, the inventor is aware thatwhen the included angle between a top plate and a sidewall of eachcarrier tray is reduced, the contact area between a sidewall of an uppercarrier tray and a top plate of a lower carrier tray is increased,thereby advancing the whole structural strength of the carrier traysoverlapped with each other. However, the inventor finds that when theincluded angle between the top plate and the sidewall is designed to begreatly reduced, an unexpected deformation of the carrier trays may beoccurred. The following describes the unexpected deformation problem ofthe carrier trays in detail. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIGS. 1 and2 are a portion of process cross-sectional views of manufacturing acarrier tray.

As shown in FIG. 1, during the process of manufacturing a carrier tray10, first, heat and soften a plastic film 20 having thermoplasticproperties, and attach the plastic film 20 to a first mold 30 whoseshape corresponds to that of the carrier tray 10. The first mold 30comprises a top surface 31 and a first lateral surface 32. The topsurface 31 comprises a recession 33 and a first edge 34. The firstlateral surface 32 is connected to the top surface 31 and extends fromthe first edge 34. The first lateral surface 32 and the top surface 31forms a first included angle θ₁ therebetween. For example, the firstincluded angle θ₁ is between 73 to 78 degrees.

Because the softened plastic film 20 has plastic deformation properties,a vacuum forming technology may be applied to the softened plastic film20, such that the plastic film 20 may be attached to the first mold 30to be deformed into the carrier tray 10. In this way, the carrier tray10 comprises a top plate 100 whose shape corresponds to that of the topsurface 31 and a first sidewall 200 whose shape corresponds to that ofthe first lateral surface 32. The top plate 100 comprises a first sideedge 110 and a containing room 120 whose shape corresponds to that ofthe recession 33. The first sidewall 200 is connected to the top plate100 and extends from the first side edge 110. The containing room 120and the first sidewall 200 are disposed on the same side of the topplate 100. The first sidewall 200 and the top plate 100 have the samefirst included angle θ₁ therebetween. The top plate 100 is disposed onthe top surface 31, and the first sidewall 200 is disposed on the firstlateral surface 32.

As shown in FIG. 2, after that, when the carrier tray 10 still hasplastic deformation properties, remove the first mold 30 from theplastic film 20. Because the top plate 100 and the first sidewall 200have the first included angle θ₁ therebetween, the first sidewall 200obstructs a removal passage of the first mold 30. Therefore, during theremoval process of the first mold 30, a portion of the plastic film 20(i.e. the first sidewall 200) is pushed by the first lateral surface 32and is moved from an initial position to a final position (along adirection indicated by an arrow a) such that an unexpected deformationof the carrier tray 10 is generated.

Based upon the above description, when the included angle between thetop plate 100 and the sidewall 200 of the carrier tray 10 is greatlyreduced, the unexpected deformation of the carrier tray 10 is generated.As a result, the whole structural strength of the carrier trays 10overlapped with each other is not advanced. Therefore, the followingfurther describes an improved method for manufacturing a carrier trayand detailed steps hereinafter.

Please refer to FIGS. 3 to 10 and 14 to 15. FIG. 3 is a flow chart of amethod for manufacturing a carrier tray according to an embodiment.FIGS. 4 to 10 are cross-sectional schematic views of manufacturing acarrier tray corresponding to each step in FIG. 3. FIG. 14 is aperspective schematic view of a carrier tray manufactured by a method inFIG. 3. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional schematic view along across-sectional line 15-15 in FIG. 14.

The following describes Steps 10 to 60 in detail. As shown in FIGS. 3 to5, a plastic film 20 having thermoplastic properties is heated to besoftened, and the plastic film 20 is disposed on a first mold 30. Thefirst mold 30 comprises a top surface 31 and a first lateral surface 32.The top surface 31 comprises a recession 33 and a first edge 34. Thefirst lateral surface 32 is connected to the top surface 31 and isextended from the first edge 34. A first included angle θ₁ is formedbetween the first lateral surface 32 and the top surface 31. In thisembodiment, the first included angle θ₁ is between 73 to 78 degrees.However, in other embodiments, the first included angle θ₁ may begreater than or less than 78 degrees. Moreover, for example, the topsurface 31, the first lateral surface 32 and the recession 33 comprisemultiple vents connected to an air suction pump, respectively.

Because of the plastic deformation properties of the softened plasticfilm 20, when the air suction pump operates on the softened plastic film20, the plastic film 20 influenced by the suction of the air suctionpumps is attached to the top surface 31 and deformed, the first lateralsurface 32 and the recession 33. In this way, the plastic film 20 isplastically deformed into the shape of a carrier tray 10. The carriertray 10 comprises a top plate 100 and a first sidewall 200. The topplate 100 comprises a first side edge 110 and a containing room 120. Thefirst sidewall 200 is connected to the top plate 100 and extends fromthe first side edge 110. The containing room 120 and the first sidewall200 are disposed on the same side of the top plate 100. The firstsidewall 200 and the top plate 100 also have the same first includedangle θ₁ therebetween. The top plate 100 is disposed on the top surface31, and the first sidewall 200 is disposed on the first lateral surface32.

Moreover, in other embodiments, the carrier tray 10 further comprises abase 300 connected to the first sidewall 200 such that the firstsidewall 200 is disposed between the base 300 and the top plate 100.

As shown in FIG. 6, before the first mold 30 is removed from the plasticfilm 20, a restorer 50 is disposed on an outer side of the first mold 30such that the plastic film 20 is disposed between the first lateralsurface 32 and the restorer 50. The restorer 50 has the capability ofrestoring the first sidewall 200 of the plastic film 20 to an originalposition. In this embodiment, the restorer 50 is a flexible ring-shapedstructure surrounding the first mold 30 and the plastic film 20. Thering-shaped structure includes a first inner surface 51, and the firstinner surface 51 faces the first lateral surface 32.

Moreover, during the step of disposing the restorer 50, a second mold 60also may be utilized to make the plastic film 20 in the recession 33being sandwiched between the first mold 30 and the second mold 60 suchthat the shape of the containing room 120 of the carrier tray 10 isenabled to accurately correspond to the shape of the recession 33.However, the sequence of disposing the restorer 50 and disposing thesecond mold 60 is not limited to the embodiment. The two steps are onlyneeded to be implemented before the step of removing the first mold 30from the plastic film 20.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the first mold 30 is removed from the plasticfilm 20. Because the first included angle θ₁ (about 73 to 78 degrees) isformed between the top plate 100 and the first sidewall 200, the firstsidewall 200 obstructs a removal passage of the first mold 30.Therefore, during the removal process of the first mold 30, a portion ofthe plastic film 20 (i.e. the first sidewall 200) is pushed by the firstlateral surface 32 such that the restorer 50 is moved from an initialposition to a final position (along a direction indicated by an arrowb).

Afterwards, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, because the restorer 50 hasflexibility, when the restorer 50 is pushed outwardly by the firstlateral surface 32 and the plastic film 20 together, the restorer 50stores a flexible restoring force. Until the first lateral surface 32 iscompletely removed from the plastic film 20, the restorer 50 starts torelease the flexible restoring force to move the plastic film 20 fromthe final position to the initial position (along a direction indicatedby an arrow c). In this way, before the carrier tray 10 is solidified,the first sidewall 200 is returned to the initial position, therebyavoiding defects.

After that, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 10, after the step of removing thefirst mold 30 from the plastic film 20 and before the step of coolingthe plastic film 20, the second mold 60 and the restorer 50 areseparated from the plastic film 20 respectively. After that, the plasticfilm 20 is cooled to obtain the above-mentioned carrier tray 10.

The above-mentioned method for manufacturing the carrier tray 10 isdescribed at a side of the carrier tray 10 and that of the first mold30. The following describes another side of the carrier tray 10 and thatof the first mold 30 together. Please refer to FIGS. 4 to 10 and 14 and15 together. In this embodiment, the first mold 30 has a second lateralsurface 35 which is at an opposite side of the first lateral surface 32.The top surface 31 comprises a second edge 36. The first edge 34 and thesecond edge 36 face to each other. The second lateral surface 35 extendsfrom the second edge 36. A second included angle θ₂ is formed betweenthe second lateral surface 35 and the top surface 31. For example, thesecond included angle θ₂ is between 73 to 78 degrees. By completelyimitating the above-mentioned method for manufacturing, the carrier tray10 comprises a second sidewall 400 whose shape corresponds to that ofthe second lateral surface 35. The second sidewall 400 extends from thesecond side edge 130, and the containing room 120 and the secondsidewall 400 are disposed on the same side of the top plate 100. Thesecond sidewall 400 and the top plate 100 have the same second includedangle θ₂, and when the first mold 30 is removed from the plastic film20, the second sidewall 400 is also pushed by the second lateral surface35 to move the restorer 50 from an initial position to a final position(along a direction indicated by an arrow b). In addition, until thesecond lateral surface 35 is completely removed from the plastic film20, the restorer 50 is also pushed back to the initial position from thefinal position (along a direction indicated by an arrow c). However, theamount of the sidewalls 200, 400 connected to the top plate 100 and theposition of the sidewalls 200, 400 are not limited to the embodiments.

The shapes of the carrier tray 10 are not limited to the above-mentionedembodiments. In other embodiments, the carrier trays 10 further haveother kinds of stacked structures. Moreover, the restorer 50 is notlimited to the ring-shaped structure according to the above-mentionedembodiments. In other embodiments, the restorer 50 further has otherkinds of structure. Please refer to FIGS. 11A to 13 and 16 to 17. FIGS.11A, 12 and 13 are cross-sectional schematic views of a step of removinga first mold in a method for manufacturing a carrier tray according toanother embodiment. FIG. 11B is a perspective schematic view of aportion of a first mold in FIG. 11A. FIG. 16 is a perspective schematicview of a carrier tray according to another embodiment. FIG. 17 is across-sectional schematic view of a carrier tray along a cross-sectionalline 17-17 in FIG. 16. The method for manufacturing in this embodimentis similar to that in FIG. 3, so only the differences are describedherein.

In this embodiment, the first mold 30 comprises a third lateral surface37 and a fourth lateral surface 38. The top surface 31 comprises a mainbody 39 and a protruding part 40. The protruding part 40 extends fromthe main body 39 toward outside the main body 39. The protruding part 40comprises a third edge 41 and a fourth edge 42. The third edge 41 andthe fourth edge 42 face to each other. The third lateral surface 37 isconnected to the top surface 31 and extends from the third edge 41. Thefourth lateral surface 38 is connected to the top surface 31 and extendsfrom the fourth edge 42. The third lateral surface 37 and the topsurface 31 form a third included angle θ₃ therebetween. The fourthlateral surface 38 and the top surface 31 form a fourth included angleθ₄. In this embodiment, the third included angle θ₃ and the fourthincluded angle θ₄ are between 73 and 78 degrees. The main body 39 inthis embodiment may also comprise a recession (not shown), and thestructure of the recession is similar to that of the recession 33 inFIG. 4.

Because the softened plastic film 20 has the plastic deformationproperties, the plastic film 20 may be attached to the first mold 30 tobe deformed into a carrier tray 10. In this way, the carrier tray 10comprises a third sidewall 500 and a fourth sidewall 600, and the topplate 100 comprises a primary body 140 and a sticking out part 150. Theshape of the third sidewall 500 corresponds to that of the third lateralsurface 37. The shape of the fourth sidewall 600 corresponds to that ofthe fourth lateral surface 38. The shape of the primary body 140corresponds to that of the main body 39. The shape of the sticking outpart 150 corresponds to that of the protruding part 40. The primary body140 may further comprise a containing room (not shown) corresponding tothe recession. The sticking out part 150 comprises a third side edge 151and a fourth side edge 152. The third sidewall 500 is connected to thetop plate 100 and extends from the third side edge 151. The fourthsidewall 600 is connected to the top plate 100 and extends from thefourth side edge 152. The containing room, the third sidewall 500 andthe fourth sidewall 600 are disposed on the same side of the top plate100. The third sidewall 500 and the top plate 100 form a third includedangle θ₃ therebetween. The fourth sidewall 600 and the top plate 100form a fourth included angle θ₄ therebetween.

Before the first mold 30 is removed from the plastic film 20, a restorer50 is needed to be disposed on an outer side of the first mold 30 inadvance such that not only a portion of the plastic film 20 attached tothe third lateral surface 37 is disposed between the third lateralsurface 37 and the restorer 50 but also another portion of the plasticfilm 20 attached to the fourth lateral surface 38 is disposed betweenthe fourth lateral surface 38 and the restorer 50. In this embodiment,the restorer 50 comprises two flexible components 52 and two restoringwork pieces 53. An end of each of the two flexible components 52 isdisposed on two fixed surfaces 70, respectively. The other end of eachof the two flexible components 52 is connected to the two restoring workpieces 53, respectively. One of the two restoring work pieces 53 facesthe third lateral surface 37, and the other restoring work piece 53faces the fourth lateral surface 38.

However, when the first mold 30 is removed from the plastic film 20, thethird sidewall 500 and the fourth sidewall 600 are also pushed by thethird lateral surface 37 and the fourth lateral surface 38 such that thetwo restoring work pieces 53 are moved to a final position from aninitial position, respectively (along a direction indicated by an arrowd). After that, until the third lateral surface 37 and the fourthlateral surface 38 are completely removed from the plastic film 20, thetwo restoring work pieces 53 also pushes the third sidewall 500 and thefourth sidewall 600 from the final position to the initial position(along a direction indicated by an arrow e).

Please refer to FIGS. 18 to 19. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional schematicview of stacked carrier trays of FIG. 15. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectionalschematic view of stacked carrier trays of FIG. 17. In the carrier tray10 manufactured by the above-mentioned method, each included angleformed between the top plate 100 and the sidewalls 200, 400, 500, 600may be between 73 to 78 degrees, respectively. Because each of theincluded angles of the carrier tray 10 manufactured according to theembodiments is less than the included angles of a conventional carriertray, the proportion of the contact area (the lap between the twocarrier trays) between each of the sidewalls 200, 400, 500, 600 of theupper carrier tray 10 and the top plate 100 of the lower carrier tray 10is increased, thereby advancing the whole structural strength of thecarrier trays 10 overlapped with each other.

To sum up, the method for manufacturing the carrier tray according tothe embodiments is that before the first mold is removed, the restoreris disposed and leaned against the outer sidewall of the plastic film inadvance, so when the first mold is removed, the restorer may provide anadverse flexible restoring force to push the plastic film to theoriginal initial position. Therefore, the carrier tray manufactured bythe method has the included angles formed by the top plate and each ofthe sidewalls therebetween and are between 73 to 78 degrees.

Moreover, in the carrier tray disclosed in the embodiments, the acuteangles of between 73 to 78 degrees formed between the top plate and eachof the sidewall is utilized to increase the distance between thesidewall of the upper carrier tray and the side edge of the top plate ofthe lower carrier tray, thereby, increasing the whole structuralstrength of the carrier tray overlapped with each other.

Note that the specifications relating to the above embodiments should beconstrued as exemplary rather than as limitative of the presentinvention, with many variations and modifications being readilyattainable by a person of average skill in the art without departingfrom the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims andtheir legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A carrier tray, comprising: a top plate includinga first side edge and a containing room; and a first sidewall connectedto the top plate and extended from the first side edge, the containingroom and the first sidewall being disposed on the same side of the topplate, and the first sidewall and the top plate forming a first includedangle of between 73 and 78 degrees therebetween.
 2. The carrier trayaccording to claim 1, further comprising a base connected to the firstsidewall such that the first sidewall is disposed between the base andthe top plate.
 3. The carrier tray according to claim 1, furthercomprising a second sidewall, the top plate comprising a second sideedge facing the first side edge, wherein the second sidewall extendsfrom the second side edge, the containing room and the second sidewallare disposed on the same side of the top plate, and the second sidewalland the top plate form a second included angle of between 73 and 78degrees therebetween.
 4. The carrier tray according to claim 1, furthercomprising a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall, the top platecomprising a primary body and a sticking out part, wherein thecontaining room is disposed on the primary body, the sticking out partextends from the primary body toward outside the primary body, thesticking out comprises a third side edge and a fourth side edge facingto each other, the third sidewall is connected to the top plate andextends from the third side edge, the fourth sidewall is connected tothe top plate and extends from the fourth side edge, the containingroom, the third sidewall and the fourth sidewall are disposed on thesame side of the top plate, the third sidewall and the top plate form athird included angle of between 73 and 78 degrees therebetween, and thefourth sidewall and the top plate form a fourth included angle ofbetween 73 and 78 degrees therebetween.